Not Christ, But I!

C.S. Lewis has likened us who know Christ to obstinate toy soldiers who resist being tapped with the magic wand that can transform us into flesh and blood creatures. We are Pinocchios in reverse. Live wooden puppets that want to remain wooden puppets.

And since the enterprise of existence is about free will in worship, there is a limited amount that Christ can force us to accept, if at all. There is a picture of this in the conquest of Canaan by the children of Israel under Joshua son of Nun (the original Jesus). In the book of Numbers the children of Israel where warned:

Num 33:55

55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.

(KJV)

But they were also told that

Exod 23:27-30

27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.

29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.

30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

(KJV)

As there was an ecology to the conquest of Canaan, so there is an ecology to the conquest of the self. Christ would have you grow in Him and grow high in the leaves and deep down in the roots. But He somewhat needs your permission each step of the way if He is not to end up with a broken wooden puppet instead of a worshipful being.

And that is where the proverbial “rub” is. Sometimes we are stubbornly unware of what He wants of us. Sometimes we are stubbornly all too aware of what He wants of us. And He cannot force us farther than we want to go.

Take a look at this fascinating website: http://www.heroesofhistory.com/

It’s about some of the bright heroes of the Christian faith that we all admire. But unlike most websites like it, this one was has a section that reveals some of the “warts” and “failures” of these heroes of ours. And these were things that went on while these heroes were “sanctified” in what they where accomplishing by the Word of God and prayer.

Glady Aylward (1902-1970), missionary to China, took part in planning the killing of entire unit of Japanese soldiers turning WWII.

William Carey (1761-1834), “the father of missions,” was unable to bring himself to properly raise the children he had fathered, even though he had plenty of time to indulge his hobby of horticulture. Someone else ended up raising them for him.

John Wesley (1703-1791), along with his brother Charles, were long time bachelors, who unconsciously kept raising the hopes of the young unmarried women who constantly flocked around them.

All four of these people were sancified to the their work by the Word of God and prayer, and yet these defects remained.

What we do about our defects? Well, I think patience, both on your part and on the part of others, is the main cure. If you are praying concretely and patiently, and you are sitting still for the Word of God patiently, then you have given up to Christ the responsibililty for your conformity to His image. It’s up to Him. His grace is sufficient for you, and it should be for everyone else.